Sky and Sea
by Antoinette Papillion
Summary: There once was a girl in an unforgiving land in unforgiving times. She ruled and reigned. She wanted to be the Queen but what she wanted most was love. This is a love story but its more about hate. This is a story about gallant deeds but more about trickery and deceit. This is Kailani's tale.


Sky and Sea. You shouldn't name your children after things so capricious and changeable, for it influences who they will become. The sky and the sea can be calm and clear one moment and the next they will be wild and roaring. This was reflected in her eyes. They were the color of the sky and the sea on those wild and roaring days, when the sky and sea seemed to merge into one entity. Her hair was the color of night at its deepest, and her skin was the olive tone of so many whose origins lay in the deserts of the Sarranids. Her mouth was full and shaped like a fine Khergit bow, the color that of the early spring rosebuds. All of these features were set in a heart-shaped face with a dainty nose and tilted eyes, all of which were framed by those midnight curls.

Kailani was beautiful, though she was not over-vain about her looks. She was a born killer, and she would slay you with whatever weapons were at her disposal. Her beauty was simply another tool such as her saber or her lance, but her exceptional looks would be the greatest tool she would ever wield. They set her apart from all others and made the great and powerful sit up and take notice of her.

She began her career as a simple mercenary, but quickly rose in power when she assembled a mighty army of mamelukes. In those days she was cold, her heart seeming to have been frozen over ever after the looting of her village, during which she watched the brutal murder of her beloved parents, an attack from which she only narrowly escaped. Kailani learned a powerful lesson in those days of blood and hunger: loving someone will only hurt you. She would forget this lesson in May of 1257, when she met Emir Amdar. He was a good-natured noble of the Sultanate who fell in love with Kailani for her fiery personality and was enchanted by her looks. His laughing eyes melted her frozen-over heart and his hearty laughter seemed to warm her soul. His father was lord of the great city of Durquaba, and he himself the lord of Uzgha, a white-walled town in the fertile mountains of the border regions.

They first met in extraordinary circumstances. Kailani's party had been ambushed by a large group of desert bandits, in the area near Uzgha and they had been fighting for their lives when with trumpets heralding their approach, the Emir's party had rushed into join the fray. Hey had been on patrol and had heard the clangor of battle. In the midst of this battle, they met he saving her from the swipe of a deserter's sword. Together, they had fought back-to-back until their last foe was slain. Kailani sustained three serious injuries: A javelin to the shoulder which pierced it through, a slash to the side, and a nasty gash to her thigh. After formally thanking the Emir for his aid in battle she had crumpled from the injuries she had sustained. Amdar had caught her and had carried her, the both of them with blood and gore clinging to their mail. He had set her in front of him on his horse, her lolling back against his shoulder, as he ordered their combined forces to march for Uzgha where Kailani could receive necessary ministrations. A traveling pilgrim, a physician by the name of Jeremus, rendered her the necessary aid; he remained one of her most loyal companions until the end of his days. She was able to recover from her wounds in peace, in Uzgha. It was during this time that Kailani and Amdar began to bond. They could be spied strolling through the orchards at dawn and at twilight, the blossom falling in a white-gold haze around them. It can easily be guessed what transpired between the two of them in those heady,spring days. In their third week together, they plighted their troth to each other. The spent the rest of May and the first half of June together, happily entranced by each other.

**So, folks, this is the first chapter of my contribution. My plan is for the first three chapters to summarize Sayeda Kailani's life. Whatever chapter's come after that will be individual events written in someone's point of view. Enjoy and Review, Cat.**


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